Erin Kelly wrote:
Hi all. I'm writing a story for Greatist.com about common newbie runner mistakes and how to avoid them. I'd love to hear about some things you had to learn the hard way when you first started running. For example: Chafing is real! Rest days REALLY matter. A 3-mile run does NOT mean it's okay to just eat cheeseburger after cheeseburger. Mapping out a route with bathrooms along the way is important! Etc. Please include your name and how long you've been running when you respond, if you'd like to be included
The first huge discovery was the shin splints I developed early on. I figured out that I could make them go away and never return if I simply took a tray of ice cubes, pulled on a pair of high white socks, and filled each sock with cubes, ice directly against my shin-skin, for 15-20 minutes after every run. That was huge.
The second major discovery was that I broke down if I tried to run the same mileage (5-7 mi.) every day. I figured out that if I jogged a half an hour easy on M/Tu/Thu/Sat, I could kick ass on W/Fri/Sun in much longer runs (7-10 on M/W and 12-16 on Sun) and I'd just get stronger and stronger. The hard/easy system worked like a charm for me.
Learning to warm up slowly during any run was also key. The 3-4 mile jogs were always kept easy, but on the three longer days, my first mile was always my slowest mile, and I never pushed sooner than 30 minutes into a run. In fact, 30 minutes seemed to be the moment when my cardiovascular system opened up. I learned to run the first hour of a two-hour run pretty easy; do that, and I could bust ass on the homeward leg.
All of these discoveries were crucial to allowing me to achieve my best over a long running life.